Missing woman's family upset with custody decision

The parents a Miramar woman missing since March 30 have been told they will no longer have temporary custody of their daughter's three children.

MIRAMAR, Fla. -

The parents of Vilet Torrez, the Miramar woman missing since March 30, have been told they will no longer have temporary custody of their daughter's three children.

The news came from the Florida Attorney General's Office.

"I think it's absurd," said Javier Blanco, Vilet's brother. "Nobody has ever communicated anything to the family and I think we deserve a little bit more than that - at least out of professional courtesy."

The family received a knock on the door from a Department of Children and Families representative Saturday. She came to pick up the two boys and a girl and deliver them to their father, Vilet's estranged husband Cid Torrez.

But, without a court order signed by the judge, the family decided not to hand over the children.

"How can you just tell us that without some legal documentation that tells us this is what is supposed to happen," said Nayiva Blanco, Vilet's sister. "You can't just show up at a door and the next day and expect for us to just hand you over three children. You have to give us some proof."

The Attorney General's Office rejected the Department of Children and Families' request to leave the children with their grandparents. Their father has been named a person of interest by the police in the investigation of his wife and had reportedly threatened to harm himself soon after Vilet's disappearance.

When and if they receive an order from the court, the Blanco's say they will do what they are instructed.

"If what we think happened happened, then the kids are in grave danger and I think the state of Florida at the very least should have made a case, should have made an argument, the blood of three children is going to be on the state of Florida on their hands," said Javier Blanco.

Torrez's attorney, Richard Della Fera, said the family is acting in defiance of lawful process, issuing this statement: “Cid has had a tough struggle since his wife, Vilet, disappeared nearly two months ago. He is extremely grateful that he will now be happily reunited with his children.”

The family expects an order from the court within the next few days.

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